Demand for quick installation of radio monopoles and towers has pressed tower manufacturers to provide new types of products that can help carriers meet urgent deadlines.
“Many things are changing right now,” said Steve Hopkins, president and owner of Tower Structures Inc. “It’s not uncommon for us to get a request for a quote with the number of an antenna that has just been released.”
The business of manufacturing monopoles and towers is likely to further expand in 1997 as new wireless networks are built and old networks are overlaid with digital technology.
Manufacturers saw this coming in the early 1990s when the government announced it would allocate new spectrum at 1900 MHz for personal communications services.
“In North America, there’s been a 50 percent to 75 percent increase in market growth, from 1995 to 1996,” said Larry Hibler, manager of communications products for the Industrial and Construction Products Division of Valmont Industries Inc.
Hopkins and Hibler expect 1997 will be bigger than 1996, as A-and B-block licensees get into the second phase of their buildouts and C-block licensees begin to sign vendor contracts.
Hopkins developed the Tower Structures product he says is in demand-the Kwik Pole. “Traveling time for a crew to get to a site can be half the cost,” Hopkins said. “Traditionally, you drilled the hole, put in the reinforcing steel and anchor bolts and poured the concrete. Then you waited for it to set and returned later to put in the pole.”
“With Kwik Pole, you dig the hole and the base of the pole goes in the ground. Then the pole is encased in concrete. It’s protected from rusting, it’s fast and the crew has to travel there once. We can put up a 100-foot pole in a day,” Hopkins said.
Ron Nelson, vice president of sales for Utility Tower Co., said a number of competitors have “come out of nowhere. Everybody’s in the middle of everything.”
“Used to be that larger contractors with their own resources were used for a site. Now, anybody that can build it can get a chance. And I’ll tell you, I get more overflow orders from someone who is in a bind because their construction permit has run out,” Nelson said.
Hibler and Hopkins both said A-and B-block PCS licensees reacted more quickly than expected.
“We’re entering a period where there is more demand than supply,” Hopkins said. Carriers believe launching in advance of their competitor gives them an advantage, so that creates a strong urgency, he said.
New flexible tower equipment can help carriers meet installation deadlines, such as monopoles that have a rotatable antenna mount.
“RF plans tend to change a lot,” Hopkins said. If the antenna mount on the pole is rotatable, the pole can be installed according to schedule, then adjusted as plans change. “You can just aim the entry port at the building so the cables go in a straight line, then the mount on top is 360-degree rotatable. So if the plans change, it’s not a problem,” Hopkins said.
Nelson said PCS carriers “have compressed schedules like I’ve never seen.”
“With cellular, they wanted the lowest bid. It was tooth and nail. Now, if you are 10 percent higher but you can get it to them two weeks sooner, that’s what they want,” Nelson said.
Utility Tower’s plant is in Oklahoma City. Tower Structures has facilities in Chula Visa, Calif., and other sites in Southern California. A new facility is under construction in Minden, Nev., with plans of being in full production by summer. The company is private.
Valley, Neb.-based Valmont reported an increase of nearly 25 percent in earnings for both the third quarter 1996 as well as the first nine months. Order flow was strong due to the continuing demand for wireless communications poles and towers, the company reported.
“We had staffed up significantly to handle the increase in business,” Hibler said.
Valmont expanded its product line through acquisition. Valmont long has been a builder of tapered monopoles. A little more than a year ago, Valmont acquired Microflect Co. Inc. of Salem, Ore., which builds self-supporting towers. Now Valmont can provide both types of structures.
Valmont said it will consider partnerships that would help cover high demands for the next three to five years.
“After that, we expect it will slow down, although overall, the demand will go on many years, but it won’t continue the rate of increase we see now,” Hibler said.
Manufacturers said most requests have been for monopoles, which generally are used in urban settings. Valmont expects orders for lattice towers will increase in the near future as licensees begin to build out their networks in rural areas. There have been requests for tree-disguised poles as well.
Valmont has begun to offer installation and follow-on service.
“Just as there are limits on manufacturing capacity, there are limits on good qualified installers, so we saw an opportunity to add a service that will help get systems built. And we’ve seen a interest,” Hibler said.
Valmont has monopole factories in Valley, Neb., Brenham, Texas, and Tulsa, Okla. Self-supporting towers are built at the Microflect facility in Salem, Ore., and in Tulsa. The company now calls its telecom line Valmont Microflect.
Valmont also has pole plants in Canada, France, the Netherlands, Poland and Germany, and recently built a large monopole plant in Shanghai, China.
Tower Structures and Utility Tower also build microwave towers, and business is booming in that area.
“PCS, with relocation, has created a large submarket there,” Hopkins said. We put in a lot of those microwave towers and still have the drawings.”
